Monday, June 25, 2012

What to do, what to do?

First up... here's a picture!

This is how I spent my Sunday night. It was bliss!

Now it's text time. I apologise in advance for the big rant here, but I've been keeping the whole house-buying process under wraps from most people until I actually become a home-owner so I need to tell someone! And you, my dear readers, are the lucky winners.

You might remember that in this post, I told you that we'd fallen in love with a property. Then in this post I shared the news that we had decided to put in an offer. Then there was this post where I had to admit that our offer had been rejected but we were considering a second property.

Well, now I present to you this postwhere I divulge to all that we have indeed put in an offer on the second property. HOWEVER, this is where it gets complicated.

Upon leaving the second property after our inspection I notice a missed call on my mobile. We call back, and it's the real estate agent from the first house (we will call this House A) enquiring whether we are still in the market for a house, and if so are we still interested in the place? We confirm on both accounts, however stress that there is no way we are going to pay the price that they're asking. He says he will talk to the vendors and come back to us. In the mean time, after seeing the other property (we will call this House B) for the second time we decide that although it's not the love like we'd had for House A, it is definitely a much more practical house and will suit our needs much better in the long-term, not to mention it is a significant amount cheaper. So yes, we went straight to the real estate agent and put in an offer.

Upon further investigation, we decide that given the interest during inspections (we had to line up to get in!) and the fact that we've been told there are already two other offers on the table, we decide that we should probably increase our initial offer to be competitive.

This morning though, before we are able to action this, we get a phone call from the real estate agent of House A. He tells us that the vendors are willing to take our last offer+ an additional $2,500 to which we say no way. We inform him that we've put an offer in on House B, but will be in touch should that fall through. Not long after that, we receive a text message stating that the vendors of House A are willing to take our last offer on the condition that we withdraw our offer on House B today and sign the contracts. Again, this is a no way. We text back stating that if they agree to drop our last offer by $5,000 we will consider it, but no promises.

At this stage. I have no idea what the hell to do! I still adore House A. It is a perfect right-now house for us, and it would suit our current lifestyle perfectly! But House B will be a much better choice in the future, and it has a double garage rather than the one car+street parking that House A offers. House A does not have a bath tub (although it has 3 ensuite bathrooms, but no room for a bath!) which will make things difficult in the future should we decide to have kids. But House A is much more stunning upon entering, and will surely impress my guests as well as provide a perfect place to entertain in the open space lounge room which opens up onto the balcony. House B however has more room outside for the crazy dogs.

Why does this house-buying business have to be so damn complicated?!?!?!?!

Which would the puppies like better?! Hehe! (perhaps not as silly as it sounds, I seriously think our dog would have gone made if we bought the house opposite a primary school we were looking at, she likes the quiet life!).

The dogs would like House B better, because there is more room and space to explore. Plus, it's in a more quiet street so that would suit. House A may have a bit more noise (it's located right near a group of restaurants/pub, and we may have to deal with barking and annoying the neighbours.

Hmmm. What a tough situation!! I used to work in a real estate, so I would listen to the agent's going back and forth between potential purchaser's. They used to give me tips as to the 'tricks' they would use to get people to increase their offers! Nice job playing hard to get and not taking the original offer.

I think something to consider is definitely the future. (Assume in this scenario your offers are accepted) If House A is a perfect 'right now' house, would you be able to buy this house now, spend a few years living there and then maybe a few years down the track buy another property off the equity on it? And then maybe have it as an investment property? I think if you don't want to do something like that, then go for the house that will better suit your needs in the future. e.g. a bit bigger / big backyard if you plan on starting a family. If House B isn't 'love' but can be renovated to turn it into 'love' and is cheaper than house A then that is something I'd definitely put in the 'pro' list for that house.

Obviously no one (especially me, who has only ever rented and is so far off buying a property) can tell you what to do, but maybe writing up a quick pro/con list for each house will help you see the practicalities of each one without letting emotion getting involved?

^^ I agree. If you love it now, then maybe it is the right choice. How far away might kids be?? I grew up moving a lot (my mother has gypsy blood) so I wouldn't buy a house with the intention of being there more than 5 years. Just depends on what you see in your future I suppose. If you do think of getting House #1, how well might it resale? if you do decide to live then sell when kids are closer.

After a bit of discussion with Liam and my mum tonight, I've come to the conclusion that House A isn't really a right-now house. It's an I'm-thinking-with-my-heart-not-my-head house!! In terms of upgrading in the future, both houses are in an area close to my parents and where we'd be happy to stay on even after we decide to have kids. Therefore, if we can find a long-term house that would be beneficial since we plan on staying in the area anyway.

I'm going to take into account your suggestions, and also write a pros and cons list! I'll let you know how I go! :) xx

Oh, and House B is definitely better in terms of resale. It definitely has more going for it in terms of what a conventional buyer is looking for. Plus it's brick veneer and larger land space etc. I just have to start thinking with my HEAD not my heart! :)

OOhh tough choices... I am looking at apartments / units / townhouses at the moment and I'm in the same boat in that I have seen some properties that I love, but they're not practical or not as well priced as others. It's so hard! I'm all about living in the moment and enjoying money spent on things other than the mortgage, so price is important to me.

I know, it's just so difficult! We've seen so many, and there always seems to be something lacking about each one that makes it just shy of perfect. If only you could take all the good things out of each different place and smoosh it into one uber house! :)

Second the gut instinct. When we first inspected our house, we knew it was the one because it had this lovely feeling about it, like it was home (sorry, bit sappy!). From a selling point of view, it has issues - the bathroom doesn't have a bath and is small (smaller than the bathroom we had in our unit), we have only 1 wardrobe for 3 bedrooms and there's not much storage. But it has a great backyard, an awesome view and is close to everything we need. You can make any house work if you really love it. Good luck with the decision :)

My gut is so indecisive! As much as we loved House A when we first saw it, I think we would have loved House B just as much if only we had not seen House A. House B is everything that we wanted, but then we saw House A and our concept changed. Both are 3-bedroom so it's not a huge issue space-wise for kids etc.

Wow it seems like a tough decision to make - I'm sure in the end you will make the right one for you. Best advice - flip a coin, when the coin is in the air you will know which side you are wishing for :)